Rights at Work National Week of Action - Marginal seats

[Djinn]

The Rights at Work campaign is focusing heavilly on marginal seats, in many of these seats we only need a few thousand votes to change hands.

This is the single biggest issue facing Australians today. There is almost no-one that will be untouched by a rampant race to the bottom in terms of wages and conditions.

What we are dealing with now is IR legislation that the ILO have deemed worse than the situation in the US, we no longer have a right to collective bargaining and we're told that it's all for productivity.

Before NZ introduced individual contracts Australia and NZ had comparable rates of growth, after collective bargaining was abolished their growth rates halved and have never caught up.

This legislation has two aims and two aims only, destroying the union movement (which began in this country before it even was a country) and reducing wages and conditions.

Please let everyone you know about the week of action and if you can't get along to the rallies, check out the rights at work website http://www.rightsatwork.com.au/ for activities at workplaces.

If you're in the area drop by the next marginal seat action:

Breakfast Protest Phil Barresi's Office

Thursday June 29 2006

7.30 am to 9.00 am

Office of Federal Liberal Member for Deakin

Phil Barresi
Unit 5, 602 Whitehorse Road
Mitcham Melways Reference Map 48 K9

And if you're not already a member for God's sake JOIN YOUR UNION!! If you wait until your boss hands you an AWA slashing your pay and benefits, it'll be too late

[Violet_Crumble]

1. Collective bargaining....

What we are dealing with now is IR legislation that the ILO have deemed worse than the situation in the US, we no longer have a right to collective bargaining and we're told that it's all for productivity.

I'm in a workplace where there's always been collective bargaining, and only recently have there been a small number of employees with AWA's. We're now in the voting period for our new agency agreement, which will take us through to 2008. We've been offered a pay increase that won't even start to keep pace with the cost of living and conditions are being taken away with us, all done with the excuse that our employer can't include them in the agency agreement as the Workchoices legislation won't allow them to. And the unions are being included, but they've been put in a position where they're powerless to do much but go along with the offer made to us. If they advise us to vote no and then the agreement gets through, they're locked out of the process and can't support union members who need their help. So I had to take the contradictory position of voting yes to my union being a party to the agreement and then turning round and voting no to the agreement...

I'm thinking if it's that bad in a workplace that has had good pay and conditions, it's going to be infinitely worse for most other workplaces...

[Djinn]

2. Are you with the CPSU Violet?

[Violet_Crumble]

3. Yes...

on edit: I'm borrowing yr sig line :)